


You have a future in the past

by Callmyname



Series: Young Neil [1]
Category: Tenet (2020)
Genre: M/M, Not Beta Read
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:07:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 4,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27130891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Callmyname/pseuds/Callmyname
Summary: This is the hook."Haven't you guessed by now?  You did. Just not when you thought . You have a future in the past . Years ago for me. Years  from now for you"
Relationships: Neil/The Protagonist (Tenet)
Series: Young Neil [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2047808
Kudos: 3





	1. Remembering

**Author's Note:**

> Minor re-edit time, to make this part of my (second series). Nope quite a bit now. .

So, I recruited Neil. In the past. 

[Insert flash-back to final scene]

That wry grin. Oh how I miss him. That oh so insistent look. His intense gaze - I don't think I have ever met anyone who quite so quickly and easily slotted into my life.

That term they came up to replace husband? Yeah partner. Neil was my teammate, my soul mate. No-one ever quite got me with the same speed. 

" _You don't drink on the job" ... "No you don't_ oh God. I miss him so so much....  
" _For me this is the end of a beautiful friendship_ "

It's not like I could ever walk away untouched by the memories he has left in me. His audacity crashing an aircraft into the back of the airport. 

" Audacity, my friend"? I remember now. What was his name. Neil introduced us ..he expanded .. "Bold , not crazy." 

Yes, audacious is a good word for what we always needed, and that Neil had in spades. Smart suits. Neil was to go in first, to case the joint, as my .. My what? Assistant. 

Thanks for the seed funds, Mr Snob. A bit of retrospective work looking up horseracing results? Bit dodgy, but I wanted to give Neil some fun.

( _Oh the looks he gave me. )._

__

__

_(catering firm... catering firm. )_ Images flash past, of demonstrations. Flack jackets. Being dragged down a road by the hair. Gate Gourmet, that was the name of the catering firm. Heathrow. They were based iin Heathrow. That's Britain. 

Of course they were. Wasn't there a strike? Yeah that's where Neil got hooked! Sitting in a locked room with fellow annoyed catering staff. Happy to walk out with a few contacts more than willing and happy to infiltrate "behind the scenes" - -iiiiiiiii----- 

Was there a connection with Heathrow? 

yeah, that was the .... Gate gourmet strike.

. Oh yes, I remember that job. We were trying to use the lock-in of staff, and the chaos around that. There was also the third runway protests uhh no, that came later, I think. We used them quite a bit. No: we did not use them . We worked with them. I remember now. The first glimmer of hope.

That's Neil? He was a third runway protestor? It was hard to be sure from photographs., so someone needed to do an extraction. If it is him, he has dreadlocks, has not washed in months, and looks like he has slept in a ditch. Probably has, and all. Will have some made up name. 

Living from hand to foot in a tent, moving around the country as a protestor. Learning the audacity of how to blag his way past security. Getting his experiences of how... 

Oh hang on. Welcome to the afterlife. Identity theft. I remember now. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter may or may not be consistent with the following ones. All written when extremely tired, cold and in a lot of pain. 
> 
> Would welcome comments, or anyone who wanted to take random snippets and flesh them out into more.


	2. Gate gourmet lock-in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gate Gourmet lock-in.  
> First contact.

The room buzzed with angry voices. When we heard the door lock click closed, it seemed unbelievable. 

They had locked us in.  
Someone was fiddling with the lock. Looking angry. His hair kept falling in his eyes as he tried to remember what little he knew of picking locks. Nah, not working. 

Okay. Phone. Google journalists. Call my MP. What's his name? No. Call the local MP, maybe he is around, doing a photo opportunity - talking to journalists,

"Look, does anyone remember the name of the local MP?" . Is it Vince Cable? 

"John McDonald I think"

"Does it matter, just ring him. " . 

Neil fumbled in his pockets for his phone, and came up with a card. 

" Oh and I have a - contact that might help, I was talking to the Third Runway protesters " 

Why's that ? Neil blushed. He was really not sure the guy was a protestor, far too smartly dressed. 

Did not give him his name, just thrust a card into his hand as he walked past on the way to work. Except, there was oddly something more to the encounter than that. In that brief moment, there was an exchange of looks that had lingered in Neil's thoughts. Made him keep the card, bring it out and study the peculiar thing. wonder what reason (excuse) he could use to make contact. Think about how his fingers oddly lingered on his hand as he handed it over. 

Maybe he was a lawyer or something. One of those pro bono sorts, helping people who had been unfairly arrested. Bet he wins all his cases. You could see the intelligence gleaming in those eyes. 

Yeah, perfect. Even if he was not! Bet he knew someone who could help.


	3. Strangers in the night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Passing through Heathrow.  
> From the Protagonist's POV..

I arrived on the plane glad of the pampering you get in first class. The executive lounge was going to prove essential in order to orient myself. I have several hours in hand before my connecting flight, plus a hotel booking nearby. It would be easy to miss my flight if need be. 

That first encounter was weighing on my mind. I am sure I will recognise him, but all I have to go on is he works in a catering crew. So somehow I need to walk through the wrong door, or find him not at work. 

The photograph shows him standing wearing a T-shirt surrounded by a crowd of similarly logo-ed shirts. He looks unwashed and bedraggled. A few signs suggest it's a strike, or demo. Maybe both!? There certainly seems enough going on round here - but is that actually the airport. Yes, they are in Gate Gourmet uniforms, but the background does not look right, now I am actually here. 

Okay: several taxi companies  
Contact details for some journalists  
List of known activists

And I clearly have no idea how to do this, so I must have asked him, and have done so "in another pass that we weave through time," .

I walk over to the Left luggage -" one briefcase to collect". I fumble for the ticket, and thank the lady as she hands it over. I will leave "Neil's luggage" here for the moment. We have to get a plan together for breaking him out first. . 

Right: what have I got - a bunch of newspapers from the next few days. A memory stick with more stuff on it. I am most definitely not meant to have this; ignorance is our ammunition and all that. But I want Neil to have a fair crack at not ending up as I remembered it. So. - What happened happened and all that. Can we - do we- change things? I leaf through my coded notebook, reminding myself which bits I want to show Neil first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Think I am going to be changing this, as first meeting Protagonist should actually be later version, think red team - blue team. 
> 
> This is fun to write, but it's making me respect Nolan even the more so. 
> 
> Breaking him out? Who is best at lock picking? Well that has to be Neil, obviously.


	4. Get in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some pretty intense explanation. Time to step up into becoming Neil. Edited with more details. Going to work on this next!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Work in progress.  
> Some inconsistencies with previous chapter are deliberate. (Its Tenet, there is more Protagonists on the case..)

Neil bursts out of the doors. It's obvious he had been running hard. He stares at me in confusion. His head swivels to look back into the building. 

"Get in the car." I bark. He's clearly in shock, but obeys automatically. He slumps on the back seat in exhaustion, struggling for breathe.

"Where are we going?" He gasps.  
"Somewhere we can talk, without being over heard. I will explain later, but I picked up your kit for you." 

. His breath comes hard, his hair is sweating and he frankly smells badly. It's definitely him all right. The Gate Gourmet Uniform looks like it's been worn for far longer than just a shift, wrinkled and grubby. He looks worn out, like he has not slept in a bed in more than is reasonable. But he also looks fantastic - young enough that all of this is just a bit of a lark. Crazy bastard, probably having the time of his life. 

"You are going to need these" , I say as I pat a large rucksack. Sitting along aside it is a heavyweight coat, waterproof boots,gloves, binoculars and a huge tripod of some sorts. It looks like the rucksack is well equipped with survival gear. Not light, but quality stuff.

"huh? Where did all that come from", Neil says.  
"Ssh! " I indicate the taxi driver , and lean over to talk softly in his ear. My hand brushes his wayward hair as I do so. "Let's just say we are old friends. "  
He looks puzzled at me. 

" And these are just some things I got you - knew it was going to be rather an exciting few days for you. You might want to camp out whilst the heat dies down. Here". I pass him a bottle of water, and reach into the bag, and offer him a cloth, "have a drink. And use that to wipe your face. " 

" Hungry?" He nods.  
"Starving. I was stuck in there for ages. Uhh. Thank you so much for coming out and rescuing me. " he blushes. 

The car pulls out, and soon we are driving through traffic. It must be about 2pm, and I am glad I don't have to understand the traffic. Or the signs. It seems we are going in circles. Then we dive down a quieter road, and I indicate to pull over on the embankment. There is a long grass slope, with sheep grazing on it , no less. 

We clamber out. I am glad of my coat - it's long, dark and heavy. Not as practical as the one Neil has just been given, but I have showers and pampering in my future, whereas he has ditches and sleeping rough to come. 

The taxi driver looks a bit confused as to where we want to get out. "Nothing here mate, except seagulls. Oh and lamb chops."  
"No, that's all right, my friend here is a birdwatcher. He wants to show me his local patch. Says it's a good change from being stuck in meetings for me. Fresh air and all that 

"Okay, whatever you say, mate. You want me to wait" "No, that's fine. We are getting a lift home" 

He nods, clearly thinking we are mad. I hand over a crisp note and tell him to keep the change. Good man, he hopes out and dumps Neil's luggage on the side, whilst Neil rushes to puts his extra layers on, fumbling with the unfamiliar coat. 

I get out my rather more subtle binoculars, and pull the rucksack on. Indicate to Neil that he should take charge of the rest of the stuff. Let the poor chap have something to eat before he has to take this load. We walk down the path. It heads up between two reservoirs. It's quite the most surprising patch of empty open space.

"Let's set up camp. If you look in your inner pocket of your jacket, that's your extremely well thumbed bird guide and tick list. You need to make a call to uhh? Bird-line no, oh it's listed.. to report a rare gull. " 

Neil opens it up, and starts flicking through it. Sounding out names and places: "St Ives, bar-tailed Godwit 14th November. Dungeness, White Tailed Sea Eagle; Margate, black eyed Gull; Staines Reservation... Hang on that's here. Today surely? "

I smile at him, "yes that's right, the bird will arrive in about an hour. That should give us time to set everything up. It's going to stay here for several days. So you can decide when you want to leave. " 

" And how do you know that? Where do you keep your Tardis, Doctor? "

"Sadly, nothing as convenient as that. But yes, time travel of a sort". I flop out tomorrow's papers. Point at the photograph where he is shown, looking even more delightfully disheveled. The stubble look really suits him. And you can see the biggest grin it pretty well walks off the page. The photographer has caught the sparkle in his eyes, he looks so happy, like he just won the lottery, and oh.....

He is looking at me now, with that incredible penetrating gaze of his. My heart turns over at how utterly, totally irresistible he is.

"We can get lost in the crowd tomorrow,.if you have any further questions. I have a bunch of papers for you to look through. but also there should be...  
Sidney Johnstone, Tony Wilson and Mike Sullivan turning up at 4:23. That gives us enough time to go through the basics. "  


"Anyway, now, we can talk without anyone overhearing us. Put your kit here, and I will show you what we have. "

I watch as Neil struggles with the tripod. Yeah, it's reversed chronology. I smile as he looks stunned. It goes through reverse assembly! Some point pretty soon, it will take the necessary photograph, photography of the rare bird loads up. _huh I don't quite know what is going on myself, but we now have the necessary photographs in correct chronology, so we can hand them over to his new birdwatching friends.

" if you look through your notebook, it will show your birding list. Uhh, tell them you have had a head injury and your memory is very patchy. That you have forgotten most of how to do all this shit, that now you have been fired from your job.. Well you might as well spend some time going round the place and doing what the doctors said you should do anyway. That is, track down old friends, even if you don't remember them. Take up old hobbies where you have to strain your memory, practice your use of old skills and re-learn them. Take the opportunity to use that inheritance and get out in th air for a bit. Just walk away from your old life. I mean, you could be dead, after that car crash. It's not like you have bothered to keep up contacts with anyone you used to know."

"Here: this will help. " I showed him the memory stick, plus the next three day's papers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Has been edited, but still leaves a lot to be turned into a smooth read, I am sure. 
> 
> POV who is talking, decent punctuation is a §¿»± html. If you are Google translate reading this, I still need to tidy it up some more.


	5. The explanation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New identity explained

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited with more explanation. Oh and flirting has gone up significantly

Neil looks confused.  
"Car accident? What?" 

I hand over his wallet, and he looks at it- flips it open. "That's not my wallet nor umm not my name"

"It is now. Look, love , you need to just go with the flow for a bit. Accept that you have been given the chance to step up a few notches, stop working dead end jobs, and use that brain for what it's good for. Look at the bank balance checker."  
He blinks at the slip, and realise that his eyes are not playing him tricks.

 _Okay, that is a bit overwhelming._  


I wind my sleeves up, and show him my watch. "Like it, it's custom? You have a safety security box with a few more of those at your bank. They are very useful, as easy to carry - and sell if you need to suddenly raise capitol. There is a custom made car at your private residence on the Wentworth estate - won't stand out from the crowd, but it has a few extra features. The security code details for how to gain access to all of this is hidden in your bird-watching book. Keep it close at all times - you need that stuff to unlock your new life.

But don't expect to be able to take all that up. Because before that, you need to learn some skills. Probably pick all that up from your new anarchist friends. Like surveillance. Lock picking. Martial Arts. Estonian. Driving insanely fast cars. Flying. Scuba diving. I can introduce you. That's the fun bits 

"So.. I am James Bond aka Neil" , he adds " and you are ? "  
"Just as it says on the card. I am the Protagonist of this affair. "

" Oh and then there is rather a lot of mind-bendingly abstruse physics. Now for the latter you are on your own, Einstein. That's the meat of this affair. Time travel. It's technology we have stolen from the future - we have to infiltrate their machines to use it. When you want to get unstuck from forward time flow, you can always leave me a message. But I may have forgotten this conversation. Things can get confusing, as we pass through events having gone at it from different perspectives. IOh, and if you need more time for your studies, we can fit that in for you. Because, you can't just " dial up 1999". If you want to get to 1999, that takes years. Literally. Long journeys need a break - and a whole pile of organisation. 

It's also good to spend the time with people that you really, really want to be locked in a tiny apartment with.

Neil looked appraising at me. "And that's me and you?" He gestures between us. No pinky lies between us. "Oh yes, I can just see you bamboozle me for hours with your tall tales " his smile just gets broader. God I love it when he does that. 

"Actually you owe me a good few, because you are about to have some crazy few months with these new friends of yours. Then after that, well."

I glanced down at the three papers I have laid out.  
"You are doing further studies in night school, I gather. You did brilliantly: straight As. In fact, it seems you have been accepted to study Physics at in September - that is only a month away. You have a few choices - don't ask me which one, that's your prerogative if you want to decide if "what happens, happens. Call it reality if you will it. No, no-one forged the applications. Here's the copies of your applications. "

It seems future you has been quite busy. Your neighbours won't think you have just moved in, even if they might blink at you seeming to have de-aged. But it's quite an exclusive patch. You went back and put in the application, along with a few other things this summer. You will find your new home extremely convenient. 

But then once you have done, if you ever get bored of academia.. What you need to remember is this gesture, and one word: Tenet. It will open doors - and .. James Bond awaits. 

" Blimey. That's all rather dramatic."


	6. Avoiding posterity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The protagonist describes how to avoid posterity. Rating gradually rising.

So, now what?  
" Let's have a snack, there should be a flask of coffee in there, some sandwiches and stuff, then wait for the others. In fact, you have all the kit to set up camp overnight if you wish.' 

Neil looks at all the gear, and dives at it. Comes up clutching the food. "Coor: that's some spread you have done me. " He looks at the sky. "Is it going to rain? " he asks.  
" no, I picked a beautiful day for this.

We relax against the rucksack. Bird song- wind noise - would be peaceful if it were not for the location ie slap bang under Heathrow flight path. And with motorway traffic a distant constant roar, plus more close by a heavily used local road. 

Neil's is clearly busy processing what he has heard. But he is accepting of this strongest turn in his life. His gaze settles upon me, clearly intrigued as to our " friendship that he has forgotten" because he can sense that in some way which he does not quite yet understand, that I do know him. Incredibly well. 

"Friendship, eh? That I have forgotten?So how does that work?” 

I cough, look a bit uncomfortable " yeah. Friendship. "

Neil looks a bit unconvinced, he clearly knowing I am hiding stuff from him.

_Bit more than that, I think. oh fuck I am totally fucked._ I pass him the tea, and yet again our hands meet. Our eyes lock. _oh thank God, he feels it too. I don't think I could stand it otherwise._

"And the bird sighting?" He asks. "How long have we got until the hordes descend upon us? 

"About two hours. " . But we can also sneak off over the next three days. 

His grin lights up again. "Somewhere nice and cosy, I hope. Not that this is too bad, as spots go, but I could do with a shower. And this photography? How do I do that? ”

Well... that's the bit I have completely failed to explain. How did I (do I). Have photographs of a rare bird sighting. Because the records say that it was definitely confirmed at 3:52 pm at Staines Res, according to photograph evidence. But that the call to Bird-line was good hour previous to that, so there was a bit of an argument aa to who should get the first sighting report. 

"So for example, if you want a photograph, use a Polaroid camera, not your smart phone. Don't walk round with your phone,. Find places like this to have conversations - and times when your movements entering or leaving are hard to follow - thanks to mass crowds."

Demonstrations, strikes and terrorist attacks are also all opportunities to infiltrate. You will find useful people mixed in with the crowd. But you are also at risk from hostile agents. 


	7. Seduction in a cold placeb (out-take)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a steamy dream sequence remembered and rejected. Okay rewrite... types frantically.

:: cut and waste


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am reviewing this, and rewriting it more explicit. My first go I had a vision of Neil that did not work in my head. But having just seen Tenet for the eleventh time, I want them to be that beautiful friendship. So there is going to be inconsistencies.

"So, you can't just leave me to work all this out on my own. Like vanish off for how many years "  
Neil stares at me - fixing me with a pretty desperate look. He is not completely overwhelmed by what I have said, and how. But that is only because he is a remarkable young man. It suddenly really hits me - this is Neil years younger than I have ever met. I am in danger of projecting who he will be on this as yet untrained person. 

He is right, I have skills I need to teach him. How to pass as wealthy - to integrate himself into his new (forgotten) life. He can pick up the protesters more easily if he keeps that Gate Gourmet uniform. But what about his identity? Is he the discarded past life, or what?

Maybe he needs to decide this himself. Give him a chance to learn the craft of identity shifting.

In truth, I desperately want to be with him through this. Most incredibly exciting time of his life. Not leave it up to strangers mmm hmm I will find AA way show him enough of the ropes of how to select one. There are probably decent enough clothes hanging in his wardrobe at his home - and for that matter, a number of incredibly decent shops within a short taxi ride. Just walk in, say luggage checked in, plane delayed. 

Oh and he. Is right. I can't stop there. I did not stop there. Seems it takes some time for even the more crazy birdwatcher app to build up a crowd. 

?????

So, we need to dump him back somewhere safe. 

TBC.


	9. Only you is that good at a lock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bit of discussion between a more future Protagonist and future Neil as to how to extract Neil

-Remember the lock-in?

\- Of course.  
-Well come on, we have to get you out.  
Seriously, it's us. Yeah don't you remember. Loads of stuff to set you up. Plus we get a nice holiday. Fine restaurants and neighbours you have to get on nodding terms with. 

Oh and - funds. I have a few sports events we need to attend. You need to be self-funded for those courses. I do have a credit card back then. Mr Snob won't run to this level of funding though. So Ascot is a good start. Then some nice small start-ups, spread iit around a bit, make some good investments. 

"Ignorance is our ammunition?" You must be joking. Can't run an organisation without funds.

They will have to think you are some sort of budding genius. Well, you are - but remember. You were passing at being older than you were. Now, they will assume you are younger than you look, or that you must be a mature student when you go for interview.  
iSo, applications to several universities, because "what happens happens" but then he still has to choose. God this stuff makes me poor brain ache. That means you also need to go up to Cambridge, Imperial and (glances at notes) Durham. 


	11. Sneaking off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting the birders.

The crowd had built up over the course of the day. Cars were parked with gay abandonment on the verge of the road, and excited birders leapt out clutching enormous tripods. It was clear quite a lot of them knew each other well, with various groups gathering and chatting like old friends who had not seen each other in a while.

Certainly Pro stood out as a bit of an oddity. There were others who had clearly come straight from work, but even they had look to them which said this was their main focus in life.

Neil had been a bit intimidated when the first few arrived, not having much of a clue what to say. But he had managed; he had read his notes off to them, and pointed out in the right directions. He was good. When it came to taking stage managed actions, the copious notes in the file had been enough. His brilliant mind was able to absorb and remember. 

Then, he was happy to do the geeky, shy and slightly not-okay birder. His tiny tent had been set up, providing them with a bit of shelter from it all, set back. 

As it got dark, things obviously quieted down. But now what? The three of them looked at Neil + Pro. "How did you get here?" one of them had asked.  
"Taxi"  
-You need a lift anywhere?  
-Yes that would be great.

They all piled into a battered old car, that had clearly had a lot of abuse in its time. Pro asked if he could be dropped off at Wentworth. Neil perked up, ah me too. 

The four of them had exchanged phone numbers, and it all looked to be falling into place. 


End file.
